Other Uses for Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

Continuing her series on the use of coffee grounds, Cathy Isom let’s us know some of the many uses of coffee grounds around the garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Coffee grounds and gardening go together naturally. Whether you are composting with coffee grounds or using used coffee grounds around the yard, you will find that coffee can give your garden as much of a pick me up as it does for you.

For instance, sprinkle fresh coffee grounds around acid-loving plants like azaleas, hydrangeas, blueberries, and lilies. Many vegetables like slightly acidic soil, but tomatoes typically don’t respond well to the addition of coffee grounds. Root crops, like radishes and carrots, on the other hand, respond favorably – especially when mixed with the soil at planting time. The use of fresh coffee grounds are thought to suppress weeds too.

Sprinkling dry, fresh grounds around plants (and on top of soil) helps deter some pests same as with used coffee grounds. While it doesn’t fully eliminate them, it does seem to help with keeping cats, rabbits and slugs at bay, minimizing their damage in the garden.